The Space Knights kept the enemy soldiers busy while we made our way across the field, passed the outer courtyard, and through the palace’s back doors.
I returned to the courtyard to assist the Stalwart’s knights. They were weaving from one statue to another while waves of laser bolts chased them. Projectiles smashed the marble statues as sirens blared from within the palace.
“Get inside!” Moses screamed at me as he skewered a trio of enemy riflemen with a single trust of his extendable spear. “Prepare to close the doors!”
I sprinted inside the palace and stood beside the entrance doors. The artillerymen gathered inside the foyer, aiming their rifles at the doorway. The nobles huddled together at the far end of the chamber like petrified field mice.
Neville, Nathan, and Richard came beside me. I was glad to see none of them had been injured.
I stared out at the courtyard and watched the knights keep the Rutheni at bay.
Flanagan was playing his axe-harp, the rune-song causing the other knights to glow with arcane energy and fight with unparalleled intensity.
Leith Manzo threw his twin dirks at two soldiers. When the blades skewered the men between the eyes, the black-haired navigator cackled. He moved across the courtyard like a panther and retrieved his weapons before running for the palace.
Moses, Flanagan, and Leith all entered the fortress at the same time. I went to close the doors, but Moses stopped me.
“We’re still waiting for Olav,” he said before turning to the others. “Anyone know where he is?”
Flanagan thrust a finger at the screen above us as berserker came into view. More soldiers materialized in front of him and aimed their rifles at his chest.
“We need to go out there and help him!” I said to Moses.
“He’ll be fine,” the shield knight said. “You ever see a berserker’s cyclone?” He pointed at the monitor.
I looked up and saw Olav spin through the last of the Rutheni ranks like a tornado of sharp steel. The soldiers were sucked into the berserker’s attack range like he was a whirlpool, and they died with a shower of blood.
Olav was twenty meters away from the palace entrance when another squad of Rutheni soldiers appeared on the edge of the field and the courtyard. They were too far away to engage Olav in close combat, but their laser bolts slammed into the berserker’s prot-field. Olav ignored them as he dived through the doorway and skidded along the palace foyer’s marble tiles.
The attendants slammed the doors behind him and secured them with a gear-locking mechanism. The palace shook as the enemy fire hit the building, and we all looked at each other with relief.
“Whoa,” Nathan said to the other squires and me. “You guys wonder if the gods are trying to kill us today?”
“The gods are always trying to kill us,” Neville said.
Moses addressed the whole room. “Does anyone here speak Tachionese?”
Zac stepped forward. “I can help, sir.”
“Good man!” Moses clapped the artilleryman on the back and nodded at the official. “What’s this guy know about the defense systems?”
“The kings of Salenum didn’t build the palace’s defense systems to account for Runetech, since runic weaponry is forbidden,” Zac translated.
“Seems kinda dumb,” Flanagan said. “You’d think the engineers would know an enemy wouldn’t adhere to silly laws.”
The official shrugged after the artilleryman had translated.
“He says that might be true,” Zac said while he listened to the official speak Tachionese, “but that doesn’t change the fact.”
“And the door?” Moses asked.
“Its seal will not last long against powerful weaponry.”
“Is there a fortress program built into this structure?” Moses asked the man.
The official nodded.
“Then why isn’t it activated already?” Moses seemed at the point of strangling the Tachionese man with his massive hands.
After Zac translated, the official rushed over the console beside the door and entered a passcode. I heard a lurching sound as steel sheets closed over the windows in the ceiling. Heavy gunfire roared from outside, and I guessed the palace’s mounted turrets were now firing at the enemy soldiers.
“Where’s your safe room?” Olav screamed at the official. The man almost leaped out of his skin, and the berserker grinned.
The official whispered to Zac, and the artillerymen translated. “It’s in the cellar, sir.”
“Squires Nathan and Richard,” Moses addressed the twins. “You’ll escort the king and the other nobles into the cellars. Ensure the area is secure and locked down before returning here.”
“Yes, sir!”
The twins escorted the terrified nobles out from the foyer and down a staircase.
Moses scanned the chamber, his gaze moving to each member of the Stalwart as though he were counting them. “Good. We didn’t lose anyone. Except now we’re trapped in this damned palace. No way to know how many more of those Rutheni soldiers might be out there. It’s lucky they only sent grunts. Could have had a few casualties if any Rutheni knights decided to show up.”
“Should we call for reinforcements?” I suggested to the knight.
“We don’t need reinforcements,” Olav spat. “Let those fuckers come inside. I’ll deal with them.”
“I’d call support from the Stalwart, but Captain Cross has the other knights on another mission,” Moses said.
“That might not be necessary, sir,” Zac said to Moses. “I’ve made contact through the console to the Salenum barracks.” The artilleryman was peering over a Tachionese official’s shoulder at a computer console.
“What’s the situation?” Moses asked.
“We’re expecting four hundred troops and ten fighter skiffs from the barracks in less than an hour. It seems the Rutheni dealt with the guards around the palace at the same time they attacked us.”
“That explains why we never had any support,” Leith said. “Not that we needed it, of course.”
The enemy soldiers and automated guns of the fortress had stopped firing, and a deadened silence punctuated the chamber. I cocked my ear and tried to hear any noise at all, but all I could hear was the breathing of my fellow crewmembers.
Moses frowned. “Sounds like the palace’s fortress system might have already dealt with all the enemies. Or maybe there are two hundred more of those bastards out there who’ve destroyed the turrets. No way of knowing unless we open up that door.”
Olav’s grinned with glee as he armed himself. “My axes were getting lonely. Give the word, and I’ll open the door.”
“Not yet,” Moses said. “For now, we’ll wait and see what happens.”
As I waited in the entrance foyer, I reached into my belt pouch and squeezed the toy soldier the boy had given me. My stomach burned with wrath, and I ground my teeth as I thought about a life snuffed out because of one of those soldiers. He couldn’t have meant to shoot a child, so I guessed I had been his target. The shooter must have intended to kill me, but miscalculated with his rifle and killed the boy instead. The action had given away the position of his squad. Then, the Rutheni had attacked.
Servants filtered out from the main building and provided us with food and water while the wounded among us used medkits to heal themselves. No one was injured critically, so we didn’t need doctors. The Stalwart’s crew had to be among the best warriors in the RTF, since they had dealt with over a hundred enemy soldiers who’d taken us by surprise. It was another reason I knew Captain Cross and his crew were much more than they let on.
When Nathan and Richard returned, I removed the axe I’d taken from Emeric and identified it with my prot-belt.
Weapon type: War Axe of the Deranged
Additional damage: None
Power class: Knight (Any Specialist)
Weapon effect: War - Gains 10% attack damage for every 20% loss in durability.
Runes inscribed: Derange
&n
bsp; Rune class: Knight ([unknown])
Rune effects: An armor-piercing strike causes an enemy to become deranged. Effect lasts for five seconds.
Reading the axe’s rune effect forced a shiver down my spine. Emeric was a far crueler man than I’d imagined if this was his preferred weapon. An insane person would just as easily strike an ally as an enemy, and a lot of damage could be done in five seconds.
I doubted the Caledonian Kingdom would allow such a rune effect among the RTF’s ranks, except my prot-belt’s database had been able to identify it. It meant someone within the RTF had once used this rune. I didn’t know what specialist role it belonged to because the rune class couldn’t be determined from the kingdom database.
With a sense of dread, I laid the axe beside me. I wouldn’t be able to activate the magic effect unless I bore a knight rune. I didn’t know whether Elle would even purchase the weapon for KPs, but if not, Casey might be able to strip the illegal rune for Arcane Dust.
For the moment, it was useless to me.
I took the Dust kit I’d bought from Elle while I tried not to imagine using Emeric’s axe in battle. Soon, I’d almost forgotten about the dreaded weapon while I busied myself with repairs. My cuirass had taken quite the beating from the battle, and the Enhance rune used almost half of the Dust to repair it to 100%. The other squires did the same with their equipment, and we each exchanged nods when we finished our work.
I was going to miss them. Although I’d only been a part of the Stalwart for a little over a week, they’d become my friends. Even Neville had grown on me.
If I went back to the Stalwart after this battle was over, Captain Atticus Cross would probably follow through on Olav’s threat and have me thrown out of an airlock. I’d jumped through a portal without an order, and I still hadn’t thought up a reasonable explanation.
At least now I could tell Polgar that the Stalwart was on Tachion to search for something among the Grendel rifts. But would the sorcerer be satisfied with that? He had explicitly commanded me to tail Olav and obtain proof of insurrection. Due to current circumstances, I hadn’t fulfilled those orders.
I needed more. I needed something substantial to turn into the sorcerer before he arrived in the Augusti Vetera System.
“Hey, Nick. Do you need another weapon?” Neville asked as he sat next to me. “I saw you using the axe, and the runes weren’t even activated. You are a big guy, but the weapon looks really heavy.”
“Are you offering?” I asked him as I raised an eyebrow.
“I’m about as good with one sword as I am with two.” The squire passed me one of his rapiers, and I linked it to my prot-belt.
Weapon type: Rapier of Necrotic Poison
Additional damage: None
Power class: Squire
Weapon effect: Necrosis - causes necrotic damage on flesh wound (penetrates enemy armor), dealing 10% of base attack damage every second for 5 seconds. Doesn’t stack.
Runes inscribed: Poison
Rune class: Squire
Rune effects: Poison doubles the rate of damage over time effects (base damage and duration).
It was an expensive design. The kind only a nobleman could afford to purchase. The synergy between the rapier’s weapon and rune effect made for a blade capable of striking an enemy with a piercing blow and almost guaranteeing a kill. I’d seen it work on the soldier Neville had killed. It was a gruesome weapon to use, but those Rutheni deserved the worst kind of death for what they’d done.
I activated the Poison rune and the blade glowed a necrotic green, shining brightest at the point.
“Thanks again,” I said to Neville as I watched the skull-shaped rune on the blade’s hilt ripple with magical energy.
He smirked from the corner of his mouth. “If you break it, you’re paying for it.”
“Hey, knights,” Zac called out to us as he walked from the gathering of nobles who were manning the security terminals. “I managed to figure out how to turn the exterior cameras on. They haven’t used the system in a good eighty years, so I had to kind of hit a bunch of buttons until they worked. Take a look.”
We directed our attention to the screens semi-imposed over the brick at the top of each entrance, and the image of the courtyard, fields, and supply crates sprung into existence.
“Looks like someone wants to have a chat with us,” Leith said as he nodded at the monitor above the main doorway.
The palace’s four main entrances were depicted on the monitor, each sealed by the fortress program. I couldn’t figure out what the slayer knight was talking about until Neville nudged me and pointed at the section of the screen showing the courtyard outside the east wing.
Crouched among the hedges were a group of figures. Their bulky size suggested they were clad in power armor.
I shuffled closer to Moses so I could hear the conversation between the knights.
“Can you zoom into the eastern garden?” Moses shouted back to the Tachionese officials as he thrust his massive finger at the monitor.
“I’ll go help them,” Zac said before he walked back. A few moments later, the garden increased in size until it took up the whole screen.
The group gathered beside the hedges were definitely knights, and their blue and red tabards identified them as Rutheni. Animal pelts hung over their right shoulders, and the kite shields in their left hands pulsed with runic magic. Each shield bore the image of a roaring bear. I didn’t know anything about the specialist roles Rutheni knights could take, but from looking at these men’s armor, weapons, and the way they carried themselves, these were frontline warriors.
But if the Rutheni soldiers possessed cloaking tech, why weren’t these knights cloaked?
A short knight at the front of the group waved directly at the camera, answering my question. These knights wanted to be seen.
“How long will it take for them to break through the defense systems?” Moses said to the Tachionese official.
Zac translated, and the man shrugged. “Depends on what they’re using to open the door.”
A flicker of movement came from the monitor as the shortest of the Rutheni knights strolled toward the camera. He grinned and waved like he was a guest for a dinner party.
“These Rutheni are fucking insane,” Olav said.
“Ha! You can talk.” Flanagan gave the other knight a playful smirk. “You’re a full-blown lunatic!”
“That’s part of my charm,” Olav growled. I was half-expecting the berserker to wrestle the other knight to the ground like I’d seen him do in the Stalwart’s galley.
“Oh, I agree, friend.” Flanagan laughed. “It’s a special kind of charm, like bitter coffee after a hangover. Or perhaps you can think of a better metaphor that employs axes in the language?”
“We’ll talk to them,” Moses said before Olav could answer the herald knight. “We have no idea why they attacked. I think that’s important to know.”
“You want to talk, go ahead,” Leith said. “But let me know when you want me to go out there and kill them. I could use some more scalps for the collection.” The slayer knight winked at me, but I couldn’t tell whether he was joking or not. I wouldn’t have been surprised if a collection of scalps was hanging in Leith’s wardrobe.
“Will do,” Moses said before he turned back to shout at Zac. “Are there comms to the courtyard outside?”
Zac translated the information, and an official pointed to a computer system embedded into the wall right of the bolted doors.
Moses walked over to the system and punched a button. “You bastards here for anyone in particular?” the shield knight asked.
The short Rutheni knight approached the doorway and spoke into a microphone. “Hello, Caledonians. Will you please open up so we can come inside this palace? I heard you’ve been having a party, but you failed to send the Rutheni an invitation.”
“You’ve committed an atrocity, Rutheni,” Moses said as his face tightened with fury. “Your soldiers killed innocent civilians. T
his is an act of war.”
“Well, we don’t want to start a war, do we? Or maybe we do. Maybe you Caledonians have come to Tachion to fill your bellies.”
“Rutheni is a far richer kingdom than Caledonia.”
“True, but it doesn’t change the real reason why the Stalwart has come to this planet. You wine and dine the Tachionese clans so they will give you access to the higher-level Grendel rifts.”
“This guy’s a bloody idiot,” Olav said. “Can we kill him yet?”
Moses shook his head and spoke into the comms. “We are providing these people with aid they desperately need. We seek nothing in return. What has the Rutheni Kingdom done to help these people during the years it has occupied their lands?”
“Many things.”
“Name one.”
The Rutheni knight sighed. “I’m afraid I don’t have the time. Still, I must thank you for your presence on Tachion. Without you, not one noble would have died tonight.”
“What are you talking about?” Moses spat.
“You are actors in my play. A story which shall finally grant the Rutheni Kingdom access to the Grendel portals on Tachion.”
“Can we quit talking? My daggers are thirsty.” Leith Manzo scowled as he sharpened his dirks against each other.
The sound of the blades scraping made my skin crawl. I had thought Olav the craziest man alive before meeting the ship’s navigator. Maybe they were just used to combat, and I’d soon brush off the violence as if it was a daily task.
“You’re getting on my nerves, Rutheni. Why did you kill those nobles? No more of your riddles,” Moses said.
There was definitely something strange to the attack tonight. The Rutheni knight’s confidence suggested this was more than a basic assault on the Space Knights of a rival kingdom.
“You’re no fun at all.” The Rutheni knight’s lips formed into a pout. “I suppose I can speak plainly. Every noble inside this palace will die tonight.”
“And what do we Caledonians have to do with it?” Moses asked.
“Once the palace’s video feeds have been destroyed, everyone will think the Caledonian knights gathered the Tachionese nobles from all the clans under the false pretense of humanitarian aid,” the Rutheni knight said. “Every galaxy will know these horrible knights then massacred all the nobles inside the palace. But this story is not without its heroes! The Rutheni knights and their soldiers brought the Caledonians to justice, but they could not save the Tachion nobles.”
Space Knight Page 28